The race for the Under 15 Mixed Doubles title at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar has reached the medal stage, with the top seeds, Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye, leading the semi-final line-up. The Turkish duo secured their place on the podium with a straight-games victory over Poland’s Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO, 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-8).
“I think we played very well in this quarter-final, so we’re really happy to have secured a medal. This morning we were 0–2 down against the Russians, but we believed in ourselves and managed to come back and win. That gave us confidence, and I think we’re playing even better now. Of course, we want to become champions, but first we have to play well. Then we’ll have our chance,” said Görkem OCAL.
The Turkish pair will face Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN in the semi-finals after the unseeded duo produced another remarkable comeback. Trailing France’s Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT by two games, SAVELEV and KHARLOVA recovered to win 3-2 (6-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10).
The second semi-final will feature Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland against Sweden’s Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD.
MAYOROV and NAWROCKA booked their place with a 3-1 victory over Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR (11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5), while ELLERMANN and BENJEGARD survived a thrilling five-game battle against AIN pair Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA, prevailing 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10).
“This was the most important match for both of us because it decided whether we would win a medal at the European Championships. For me, this is the most important competition of the year, so we’re really happy. It’s the first time we’ve played together, and so far it’s been going really well. I hope we’ll have the chance to play together more often in the future,” said Ladimir MAYOROV.
Earlier in the day, the Round of 16 produced few surprises, with most of the seeded pairs progressing to the quarter-finals.
Top seeds Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye defeated Germany’s Tien Nghia PHONG and Lotta ROTHFUSS 3-0, while No. 11 seeds Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT of France also advanced in straight games, overcoming Ukraine’s Volodymyr NEVIZHYN and Veronika PRYSHCHEPA.
No. 5 seeds Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland withstood a spirited comeback from AIN pair Matvei MANANKOV and Amina ILIMBETOVA to record a 3-2 victory. No. 27 seeds Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA of AIN beat Sung Bing CHEN of Austria and Michelle WU of Switzerland 3-0, while Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR eliminated the fourth seeds Louis FEGERL of Austria and Adela BRHELOVA of Czechia in four games.
No. 66 seeds Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN continued their impressive run with a straight-games victory over Israel’s Nir ENGLER and Gali BEZALEL. No. 8 seeds Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO of Poland defeated England’s Oscar NIKOLLI and Alyssa NGUYEN 3-1.
The only highly seeded pair to exit the competition in the Round of 16 were No. 9 seeds Jakub TURECKI and Lucja KOBOSZ of Poland, who were beaten 3-1 by second seeds Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD of Sweden.
